By Pat Kapowich
Excerpted from the San Jose Mercury News, SJMN

Market Wise Column

Saturday, June 6th, 2009

Q: We are in the process of getting our house ready for sale and our agent wants us to install some sort of attic ventilation. We don’t have A/C and the house can get very warm on hot days. His request seems odd since we only experience a few weeks of really hot weather. Does the cost benefit make sense to vent the attic?

A: Absolutely. You are now in the business of selling a house. If the buyers are uncomfortable in your home, there won’t be any business. Improper ventilation of an attic space allows temperatures to soar to more than 140 degrees. This heat radiates down to the occupant and up to the roofing materials. Roasting prospective buyers will stymie a sale. Slow cooking of roofing material from beneath will void the roof warranty. Your savvy licensee has been down this road. He knows that the investment in attic fans and vents in concert with ceiling fans is a speedy, effective and low-cost alternative to air conditioning especially compared to the repeated price reductions you’ll endure if you do nothing.

by Pat Kapowich

Excerpted from the San Jose Mercury News, SJMN

Market Wise Column
Saturday, March 6, 2009

Do you have any questions for the new real estate Q&A Market Wise column in the SJMN? If so, please email them to: Pat@SiliconValleyBroker.com

KAPOWICH REAL ESTATE is the leading real estate brokerage for buyers and sellers in Silicon Valley, providing an unparalleled level of research, education and service. The father/son team has extensive experience in single-family and townhouse/condo buying and selling. Their specialty is “move-up” and “down-size” transactions for clients who wish to sell a home and buy a replacement simultaneously.